Are you experiencing your trackpad not clicking when you try to click your trackpad on Mac? There are plenty of reasons why your trackpad is not reacting to your click.
Whatever the problem is, you can easily fix them with the help of this article. So, if you are the one having problems with your trackpad, then this article is for you. Without any further delay, let’s get into it.
Why my MacBook Pro Trackpad isn’t Clicking or Working?
Certainly, there is no specific reason why your Mac trackpad is not working or not clicking. There are many reasons you are facing this situation. It is not clicking maybe because of some software or hardware-related problems, or because of a not updated version of your MacBook.
You might not click the trackpad even because of any improper apps you have downloaded on your Mac. Or it is because of the hardware fault, which you can’t even see and understand as it works in the background of your Mac.
At this point, you may be thinking to buy a new trackpad or even a new Mac. But before going there, you must need to understand that this problem can be solved with the help of a couple of tips and tricks.
So, before thinking of buying a new one, try all the given below methods to fix the problem of the trackpad not working.
How do I fix my trackpad to work again on MacBook
Here we will show you some of the ways to get your trackpad to click and work again. You can try each and every one of these tricks and see if any of these methods fixes your issue. If you are comfortable, then you can also use an external mouse to run your Mac computer.
1. Turn on Trackpad to Tap-to-click:
To solve your issue, you should try to turn on the tap-to-click feature. Enabling Tap-to-click allows you to use your trackpad even when you tap or touch on the MacBook trackpad to get it into work.
So, you don’t actually need to click your trackpad to use your trackpad. It does not contain any long process you can easily turn it on, it just takes a couple of seconds to do so. However, you do need an external mouse for this option because your trackpad is not responding to your click. Here is what you have to do:
- Press the Command + Space buttons to open Spotlight.
- Search for Trackpad from the given options and then press enter to open the System Preferences.
- The Trackpad window will show up on the screen, and then click to select Tap-to-click to turn on the function.
Now, that you have turned on the tap-to-click feature, check if your trackpad is doing its job. You can now use your trackpad without even clicking which is very cool.
2. Disable your Force Click Setting:
Mac trackpad comes with two settings. Force click, which allows you to give more pressure while clicking your trackpad to respond to your click. And the other is tap-to-click, this option does not require any pressure, it is a tap to click, and it gives you a response even when you touch your trackpad.
Maybe you have put your trackpad settings to force click, and that is why you are having the problem with clicking your Mac trackpad. However, you can easily disable that setting on your Mac. To do that:
- Go and click the Apple menu given top-left of your screen.
- Select System Preferences.
- Then you need to find and click on Trackpad.
- Under the label saying Point & Click, uncheck the box for Force Click and haptic feedback to disable the function.
While you are at this setting, you can also find the option saying adjust your trackpad sensitivity. Here you can see a Click slider that will allow you to adjust how much force you need to click your trackpad. You can adjust the settings as per your liking.
3. Reset your Trackpad to Factory Settings:
By resetting your trackpad to factory settings, you can fix every little problem maybe you have accidentally changed any trackpad setting and don’t know about it. Whether you have recently updated your macOS and it has changed your settings with your trackpad, and many other reasons.
However, you can fix all of these problems by resetting your trackpad. It will allow you to reset all the settings you have changed and provide you with a fresh trackpad start. Here is what you have to do:
- First, click on the Apple logo on the top left of the screen.
- Then, select System Preferences.
- Navigate to the trackpad, and click Trackpad.
- You will have to unselect Tap to click.
- Under the Scroll & Zoom header, click on the box beside Scroll direction: Natural.
4. Check your System Preferences:
System Preference allows you to modify various system settings. System preference is where your Mac works, and you can control how you want your Mac to work. Sometimes you may think that the trackpad is not clicking because of system preferences. If that’s the problem, you can actually fix this by setting all the system settings back to normal. Here is how you can do that:
- Go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Mouse & Trackpad.
- Uncheck Enable Mouse Keys.
- Click Options, and turn off “Ignore the built-in trackpad” when Mouse Keys is on.
- Rise the Double-click speed to a faster speed.
- Uncheck Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad is present.
5. Update your Mac to the Latest:
As we all know, the software update is one of the crucial things. It is always good when you keep your device with the latest update as it allows you to access more features and fix all the bugs and errors.
So, if you are facing this problem, check if your Mac is up-to-date. Not updating your device for a long time can be the reason why your trackpad does not click. To check if your device is up-to-date follow these steps:
- Go and click on the Apple logo given on the top-left side of your MacBook screen.
- From the pop-up menu, select System Preference.
- Next, you have to click on Software Update.
- If your device is not updated, then you have to update it to the latest by clicking the option Update Now.
6. Connect a Bluetooth Mouse or Trackpad:
If your Mac trackpad is not responding and you really want to use your Mac for work, you can connect an external mouse to your MacBook Pro using Bluetooth. You have to pair a mouse with your device if you haven’t in order to work. If you don’t know how to, then follow these steps:
- Press Command + Space to open Spotlight Search.
- Search Bluetooth and press enter to open the System Preferences.
- Press the tab to shift focus from the search bar to the devices list.
- Navigate to your Bluetooth mouse using the arrow buttons.
- Press Space to connect to your Bluetooth mouse.
7. Turning VoiceOver On:
Let’s say you don’t have an external mouse with you, or you are not comfortable using an external mouse. And your trackpad is not working at all. The one thing you can do in this situation is to use VoiceOver.
VoiceOver is a built-in feature of the MacBook which allows you to hear all the information text on the screen and allows you to interact with them. To turn on the voiceover, follow the given below steps:
- Press Command + F5 to activate VoiceOver. If the voiceover is On, pressing Command + F5 again turns it OFF.
- Use the Universal Access pane of System Preferences.
If you set up the Universal Access preference, then it allows you to show you when the voiceover is on or off.
8. Resetting NVRAM or PRAM:
NVRAM as non-volatile random-access memory and PRAM as Parameter RAM is a small amount of memory that stores a certain amount of settings of your Mac. As NVRAM and PRAM store settings of your Mac, resetting them will reset all the information and allows your Mac to run smoothly and might fix your issue with your trackpad too.
Note that after you reset all your NVRAM or PRAM settings, you have to set all the settings again on your System Preferences. If you are okay with it, then you can follow this process. To do this:
- First of all, close all the applications that are open on your Mac, and shut it down.
- Wait for a little bit.
- Open your MacBook and press the power button.
- Once the MacBook screen lights up, press and hold on to the option key, command key, P key, and R key together.
- You have to keep pressing all these keys for at least 20 seconds until you hear the start-up sound.
9. Reset the SMC:
SMC stands as System Management Controller, which by default controls many settings, on your Mac and may have selected settings that you don’t want to. If you are still having a problem with clicking your trackpad, resetting the SMC might restore all the default settings. In this situation, resetting your Mac SMC is what you have to do in order to fix that. However, in newer Macs like M1, there are no SMC settings.
So, the people who own Intel MacBook introduced in 2017 or earlier, may follow these steps:
- Shut down MacBook completely.
- With the MacBook turn off, press, and hold the shift, control, and option keys.
- While holding those keys, press and hold the power button.
- Press and hold all the four keys for at least ten seconds, then release.
- Press the power button to start the MacBook.
For Intel MacBooks 2018 or later with a T2 security chip, may follow these steps:
- Shut down your MacBook, and make sure it is unplugged from any power supply.
- Wait 15 seconds, and plug the MacBook in.
- Wait for five seconds, and then turn on your MacBook by pressing the start button on the Mac.
10. Run Apple Diagnostics:
Apple Diagnostics helps you find the problem from your Mac hardware, detect what causing your Mac problem, and solve the problem. You can run this check simply on your MacBook. Here is what to do:
- Disconnect the MacBook from all external devices except a power supply.
- Power off your Mac completely.
- Turn on the Mac back while pressing the D key.
- When you see a screen asking your language preference, release the D key and select your preferred language.
- Allow the diagnostics to complete its check-up.
11. Deleting Plist Files:
Plist known as Property List Files or Plist List files are used to store a macOS user’s settings. Sometimes, this plist files might get corrupted for one or another reason and might cause your Mac problems. And you can’t even detect the problem as it is a process and runs in the background of your Mac computer. So, by deleting it you can easily resolve your issue. Deleting Plist files is totally fine, and it will not going to harm your Mac in any form. To delete it, follow these steps:
- Start this process by going to the Finder.
- Next, find Go and click on Go to Folder.
- When the window shows up, type “Type/Library/Preferences and then press enter.
- Another window will be open on the screen. You will need to find and delete the following plist files:
- com.apple.preference.trackpad.plist
- com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist
- com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist
- com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist
- com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist
Remember that only delete the plist files that I have mentioned above. You might find other plist files too kindly ignore them and remove only the given ones. After deleting all these files restart your Mac to start from new.
12. Visit the nearer Apple Store:
At this point, after trying all the above tricks and methods, your trackpad is still not clicking or not working properly. The last thing you can do is to visit an Apple store. Apple makes Mac so you have to go to your nearest Apple store with your MacBook and any other necessary device like a charger, or external mouse, with you to the store.
If you can’t able to go to the Apple store, you can also contact them through their number and tell them about the issue you are facing with your Mac trackpad and ask for their suggestions. If you have recently bought the Mac, you may also get a refund or your Mac is on warranty, you may don’t even need to pay for Mac repair.
Conclusion:
Without a trackpad, we can’t actually do much work. As I have mentioned above in this article, this issue might occur due to many reasons. In this article, I have shown many ways how you can actually solve this issue even by yourself at home. If you can’t solve this problem even after trying all ways, the last thing you can do is contact Apple support service and ask for their suggestions to fix this.